Oluchi Chibuzor
With Nigeria’s pension fund assets appreciating remarkably, Veritas Glanvills Pensions, Fidelity and NPF have emerged top three in the 2024 year-to-date (YTD) average rate of investment returns (ROI) as of February 2024.
This is coming as PenCom also disclosed in its report for the month of January 2024 that the number of Retirement Savings Account (RSA) subscribers stood at 10.22 million. This indicates a continued interest and participation in the pension scheme, which is crucial for the long-term sustainability of the system.
From data obtained from the websites of all Pension Managers, on their average returns on investment for Funds 1 to 4, VG Pensions, Fidelity and NPF emerged the best three performing PFAs for the month of February 2024. In RSA Fund 1, Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited returned 4.20 percent, Leadway 4.87 percent and NPF 26.64 percent. For Fund II, Trustfund returned 4.42 percent, Fidelity 4.84 percent and NPF 20.92 percent while in Fund III Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited returned 3.03 percent, Fidelity 4.29 percent and NPF 18.36 percent and in Fund IV Trustfund returned 2.23 percent, Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited 2.75 percent and NPF 8.07 percent.
On the average ROI performance which was obtained by averaging the ROI of the PFAs across the four fund categories, Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited ranked third position with YTD return of 3.26 percent. Second position was Fidelity with YTD return of 3.57 percent while NPF YTD returned 18.50 percent to emerge No 1
Total national Pension assets surged by N1.17 trillion from N18.36 trillion at the end of December 2023 to close at N19.53 trillion by January 31, 2024. The allocation of pension fund assets by the pension fund managers reveals a diverse investment strategy aimed at optimizing returns while ensuring the safety and security of the funds.
A substantial percentage of the funds, amounting to N12.14 trillion, were invested in Federal Government’s securities, highlighting the confidence of the pension industry in government-backed financial instruments.
From the breakdown provided by the National Pension Commission, N11.59 trillion was invested in bonds, N221.81billion in Treasury bills while agency bonds, Sukuk bonds, and green bonds accounted for N14.86 billion, N124.89 billion, and N181.57 billion, respectively.
The industry also invested over N270 billion in state government securities. This demonstrates strong support for sub-national entities and therefore a major contribution to the development of infrastructure and economic activities at the state level.
Similarly, a look at the performances of the ninety (19) PFAs at the end of February 2024 shows muted growth because of the drop in equities prices following increase in interest rates by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This is occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee, which implemented yet another interest rate hike, elevating the rate by 400 basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent. The decision of the CBN was meant to help tame inflationary pressures and address exchange rate volatility.
